Susanne Ekström

I Coach CEOs to Build Winning Companies Where People 💜 to Work (SME:s) | +$30M Client Profit Generated | Top Ranked Management & Leadership Creator Globally (#1 in Sweden) | Serial Entrepreneur

💡 Are you enthusiastic about waking up in the morning to be the master strategist of your company, or are you dreading another day spent fighting fires and not getting anything significant done?

👋 Hey! I'm Susanne, a CEO Coach, entrepreneur, #1 international bestselling author, and the founder of BeASmarterLeader and SEE Management.

𝐌𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧: To guide CEOs like you in reaching the top of your game.
I specialize in turning your big business dreams into reality, making your company richer, your team happier, and your business more robust.
And if you're up for it, we'll boost your bottom line by $499k in 99 days.


𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞: Back in 2001, life was amazing. I co-owned a big Swedish dot.com company and started our Netherlands office. I invested my heart, time, and money into it. But then, everything fell apart when the company went bankrupt. I lost everything, and it was devastating—going from a dream job to no job at all.


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠: We made these 4 epic failures!
⛔ We didn't delegate effectively
⛔ We weren't ready for massive growth
⛔ We didn't have streamlined processes in place
⛔ We, the C-Suite, stopped listening to our people


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝: Combining 20+ years in management consulting, over a decade in leadership, and hard-earned lessons from my dot.com collapse led me to develop a foolproof system to help CEOs like you:
✅ Boost your profits
✅ Keep your best people
✅ 'Buy back' +8 hours a week
✅ Build a scalable business model for growth


Great leaders aren't born; they're made.
True transformation can be challenging, so I've designed my system to help you save time, reach your potential, and become a top-notch CEO. 


𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫: Strategies to:
⭐ 'Buy back' your time so you can lead, not be 'all-over the place'
⭐ Create a CEO role that you'll absolutely LOVE having
⭐ Create space for innovation & big-picture planning
⭐ Create trust, structure, and sustainable growth
⭐ Build a winning, scalable company culture



𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬: CEOs of SME companies on the U.S. East Coast, Canada, and Europe.
But why is this Swedish lady targeting the U.S. and Canada?
The mindset around the importance and value of a coach differs in the US and Canada from the rest of the world. I also love to speak English.
𝘚𝘔𝘌 = 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘶𝘮-𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦


𝐍𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩: Book a 15-minute Opportunity Call today!
👉 https://calendly.com/susanne-ekstrom/15mincall

Susanne Ekström
📞 +46 70 205 40 44
✉ susanne@beasmarterleader.com
🌐 www.beasmarterleader.com

Founder & CEO | BeaSmarterLeader

🔥 We help CEOs and Owners of Companies with $5-20 Million in Revenue, Strategically Work ON the Business Instead of Being Stuck IN it.

BeaSmarterLeader is 100% dedicated to helping CEOs and Owners across dynamic industries scale business operations and obtain unparalleled marketplace advantages to unlock transformative, growth-driven futures.

As the Founder & CEO, I work confidently with you while providing all of the dynamic tools and coaching methodologies required to take your business to the next level with The CEO Profit System!

Ultimately, I’m here to help enable the conditions for your peak performance, and you'll drive your business forward in ways previously unimagined. Sign up today to double your profits and cut your daily workload by 50% in less than 4 weeks!

👉 www.beasmarterleader.com/ceopsli (With a Large Discount)

Seth Yakatan

Raising & Selling 📈 $1B+ Raised 💰 22 Companies Sold 🤝

Are you struggling to communicate your vision to the capital gatekeepers?

Are you exploring selling your business but don’t know anything about:
✘ Due diligence
✘ Term sheets
✘ Earnouts

Friend, you're lucky you found me...

I'm Seth Yakatan.

I have 30-odd years experience as a corporate finance professional.

My specialties are:
💰 Raising money
🤝 Selling companies

And I’m f**king good at it.

I’ve raised over $1B and sold 22 businesses.

My career has mostly been supporting small-cap and major corporations seeking capital to grow, or
to find strategic acquirers.

Most of these companies are in: 
— biotech
— cannabis
— pharmaceuticals
— DTC consumer goods

I’ve been on boards, taken companies public, gone up against multinational corporations, raised from VC and PE funds.

All of it. 
Many times over.
Whatever your problem is, I’ve seen it before.

But let me level with you:

What I REALLY love is helping people to get to the finish line.

Talking to entrepreneurs excites me.

But in my experience, entrepreneurs are mostly s**t at raising capital and selling companies.

** They just don’t understand investors **

And that’s where I come in.

Together, we workshop: 
✔ Your pitch
✔ Your deck
✔ Your strategy 

And help you raise the capital to GROW and SELL your business.

If you need this help—and almost every business does—send me a DM.

Like, now.

Don't lose another potential investor or acquirer with the wrong pitch.

Seth ✌️

Co-Founder

Merchant Bank / Advisory / Family Office

Will there be ONLY ONE California distro left standing?

If that’s true, my money’s on NABIS.

Nabis just acquired assets from Humble Cannabis Solutions.

Distribution. 
Commerce systems. 
Compliance. 
Logistics.

Others chase vibes, Nabis keeps chasing leverage.


>> What’s Happening?

Nabis just picked up assets from Humble Cannabis Solutions.

No hype. Just more control over the infrastructure that moves cannabis.

And now they OWN California…


>> Why This Matters

Infrastructure wins in markets where margins are thin.

And A/R drives the leverage of brands and suppliers.

Owning distribution, commerce, and compliance creates LEVERAGE.


>> What Am I Watching?

Can KSS last?

How many brands realize too late that they don’t control their own destiny?

Whats next for Vince Ning and Jun S. Lee? 

No vibes. No hyperbole. No fanfare.

Just own the damn channel…

The WHOLE DAMN THING.

I LOVE it when someone proves me WRONG… particularly when it’s someone with such a unique and positive character.

Case in point… my main hermano Los Arias and the Green Horizons, you guys have CRUSHED IT.


>> What’s Happening?

A few years back I heard something I thought was crazy

Someone was running around trying to raise big money for a greenhouse in the desert of CA.

A green house? How much $$$?? WTF???

Wrote him off as crazy.

Well, Green Horizons has built one of the best facilities I have walked, PERIOD.

Clean, tighter than a tick, good flower, and serious PASSION…

Impressive, MOST impressive.


>> Why Is This Important?

Sometimes I’m puzzled by the industry and things which I see and hear…

It’s one thing to raise this money. It’s another to know how to use it AND execute…

Cultivation is really easy to do wrong, and very hard to do right…everything about what Los and Green Horizons has built is RIGHT.

And I could not be happier for Los and his whole squad.

Sometimes you just have to BELIVE.


>> What Am I Watching?

Will anyone else have the STONES to build more cultivation in CA?

How soon will this crew stand up facility #2?

Will Green Horizons change the view of CA and the desert?

They sure changed this Joshua Tree’s path…

Abrazos, Jefe…

"You can't fight the desert. You have to ride with it." ~ Louis L'Amour.


Los is an INSPIRING DUDE who just back on LinkedIn, give him a follow and keep up to date with their progress 📈

Am I Trending???

Well you know what I say:

Once is luck, twice is an anomaly…

Three times? Then you’ve got a trend, my friend.

I was highly privileged to be featured alongside the savvy Mitchell Osak in this excellent Forbes piece by Javier Hasse on cannabis M&A in 2026.

Superb reporting, AS ALWAYS Javier.

Essential reading for everyone trying to make moves in the industry this year.

Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gxNfAQ6W

Here’s an idea: why not just sell Hemp TCH Beverages till the last possible second

Eight brands including Cann, Drink DELTA, Wynk™, MAGIC CACTUS, Nectar, HOWDY and NOWADAYS are rolling out at Sprouts (WITH A BAN PENDING).

Yes. A national grocery store! Actual Hemp THC beverage! Next to groceries!


>> What’s Happening?

Sprouts just green lit the sale of THC drinks in stores.

First Target, NOW a mainstream grocer.

So while half the industry is still arguing about about regulation…

….Sprouts says: “Cool. We’ll take the money.”

>> Why Does This Matter?

This is something of a watershed moment for THC beverages.

Alcohol didn’t win because it was moral.

Nicotine didn’t win because it was healthy.

They won because they were available, familiar, and frictionless.

THC drinks just took a HUGE step in that direction.

>> What Am I Watching?

Which retailers will follow? (Because they WILL…)

Which of these eight brands win at grocery, and which dies trying?

How will regulators react now??


Fun fact: The market is moving faster than the rulebook.

Retail just signaled a big fat IDGAF for regulatory clarity.

You’re still debating whether THC beverages are “real”…

Congrats, you’re already two years behind.

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Well...it happened: Wyld + Grön announced a definitive merger yesterday.

If you've been following me or listening to my BS, this is great news.

Why?

1. This represents a hallmark transaction for the industry and can foster a new era of M&A in the future

2. The combined company fully illustrates the importance of PLATFORMS driven by BRANDS

3. This represents the first national platform (and in ANT other industry this would be the basis of a Private Equity roll up deal/strategy)

4. It illustrates that there are companies (i) of scale, (ii) generating revenue and profit, (iii) that can find exits, (iv) that are Founder-led and (v) that can be stronger and grow together !!!

5. With this announcement and some form of Federal change on the horizon, 2026 could be our best year YET.

Congrats to all my friends at both companies on an AMAZING deal...

Aaron Morris and Christine Apple you should both be proud… and thank you both for showing the world what IS POSSIBLE!!!!

And if you know Draper Bender, then you know how and why this got done. Period.

Here is to the future for us all.

P.S. This video was recorded July 17, 2025 with Michael Krefman and Michael Peterson on From the Weeds to the Clouds

Even a broken clock is right twice a day....

Glad you all gave up because some of us just GOT STARTED.

Looks like 2026 is off to a terrible start…


>> What’s Happening?

Nothing at all, just go back to sleep

Cannabist’s VA footprint goes for $130M.

Wyld/Gron pops off.

Illicit does a landmark ESOP.

Sunderstorm grabs Lime.

Nabis grabs Humble.

Key takes Bellrock.

Canopy puts $150M on the balance sheet

But its only January, go back to sleep….


>> Why Does This Matter?

The strong are getting STRONGER.

Notice any similarities in any of these deals? (read any of my posts??)

I have profiled most of these companies as “working”.

And the others have big balance sheets.

THE CONSOLODATION will not be televised.


>> What Am I Watching?

Who and what is NEXT?

SUPER-BRAND V2 is coming. Count on it…

Can someone take control of California?

What am I missing??

First of 12 innings down.

The pitcher has not even warmed up and

Already its a Perfect GAME ….

Germany is officially importing TONS of lettuce.

The EU’s biggest single c@nnabis market is sprinting toward 600 metric tons of annual imports.


>> What's Happening?

Germany's medical cannabis imports have climbed quarter over quarter.

From 41 metric tons in early 2025 to 57 t in Q3 2025, crushing records.

German regulators even raised the annual import ceiling once the original quota was exhausted.

Prescription access is expanding and telemedicine is growing…the trajectory now looks like hundreds of tons annually…

>> Why Is This Important?

Germany is now Europe's largest regulated medical cannabis market and its explosive import growth is a global signal.

Deutschland’s policy reforms have created predictable patient access and a huge upstream opportunity for exporters and supply chain players.

At 600 tons of annual imports, that is global supply chain scale and a new benchmark for what "big cannabis" might look like outside North America.


>> What Am I Watching?

Can anyone in Europe actually grow weed at scale, or will the country remain dependent on imports long term?

How pricing, pharmacy networks, and telemedicine evolve and can a patient market can coexist with both social clubs + adult use.

Which countries and companies position themselves as primary exporters into Europe's hottest cannabis corridor?


Bottom line:

Europe's medical cannabis boom isn't theoretical anymore…

It is measurable, explosive, and reshaping global supply chains.

If you haven't been tracking Germany's trajectory closely, you're late.

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In case you missed it 

Wyld and Grön was announced earlier this week...

Have to give props again to both teams on the absolute magnitude of this deal for the industry....I am still amazed by this one....

And do not forget why....and what else is possible and for who...

Jeeter - a DreamFields Brand
Timeless
Nova Farms
Standard Wellness
C3 Industries

Thank you Aaron Morris + Christine Apple for showing the WORLD what this industry CAN DO !!!!

Here is to the future for us all...
and never sleep on Draper Bender (might just be the best in the business) 

P.S. This video was recorded July 17, 2025 with the amazing squad of Michael Krefman and Michael Peterson on From the Weeds to the Clouds
(MORE PROGNOSTICATIONS FORTHCOMING.... )

I am never giving up on California...EVER...

Keep an eye on my friends at Embarc
Keeping it REAL FOR EVERYONE....

CA is still #1 and will be #1 for a while.

We ain't going nowhere...

Just training for the next 12 rounds....

Welcome to Las Vegas !!!!
Wait...did I see you there ?
Well if I did, maybe you made the edit...

Seibo Shen
Elliot Lane + IgniteIt Cannabis
Diana A. + First Citizens Bank
Salvatore (Sal) LaTorre
Aisha Alves + the squad from FlowerHire
My main man Frank Colombo,  CFA + Viridian Capital Advisors
The ever popular Jesse Parenti, TRA 
Marty Higgins
and the ever magnanimous Lisa Williams + Hello Again

Want to thank my good friends from Sweed for all the help !

When does a celebrity brand officially hit the skids?

When it turns into a $50M lawsuit.

Iron Mike Tyson and The Nature Boy Ric Flair just turned their brand in weed biz into federal lawsuit.

And the allegations are wild.


>> What’s Happening?

Tyson and Flair filed a 76-page RICO-heavy lawsuit against their former cannabis partners at Carma Holdings.

Accusations include all the good stuff: wire fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, extortion and securities fraud. 

And further accused management of siphoning off cash and company funds for private jets, yachts, home renovations, mortgages and lavish perks.

NY Post has the scoop if you want to read the details...

Tyson & Flair are seeking more than $50 million in damages.


>> Why This Matters?

RICO is typically reserved for organized fraud and systemic corruption not partner disputes.

Defendants are pushing back hard, calling the suit “fiction dressed up as a lawsuit.” 

Celebrity + cultural icons + weed business + alleged internal theft = BAD LOOK

As an industry we do NOT need further headline drama.


>> What Am I Watching?

Does this show anything about governance, IP control, and fiduciary accountability?

Or does it just becomes another in a long list of “bad-celebrity brand” tabloid footnotes?

Can RICO stick here?

Which is the next celebrity cannabis brand to go ass over tea kettle? 

Bottom line:

Celebrity cannabis brand launches make headlines.

Celebrity cannabis boardroom lawsuits makes worse headlines.

Can we just NOT do any more celebrity brands, PLEASE??

You think its easy to get a deal done?

Think again...

Getting any deal done is HARD:
— Senior Debt
— Equity
— M&A
— Partnerships

It's like walking a drunk person home in the snow.

You might slip and fall a few times before you get there..

You have to realize it is going to fall out of bed once or twice.

And you have to have people around you who know how to get it done....
AND CLOSE.

Appreciate my friends Louis Magazzu and  Rachel Wright, CPA, MST for the discussion and the crew from IgniteIt Cannabis for the platform....

Nothing makes me happier than seeing good people succeed.

Especially those who pulled me up with them on the path.

So it gives me GREAT pleasure to give a huge congratulations to my friend  Austin DeAngelis on his most recent feat with furl.


>> What’s Happening?

A few years back I got pulled into Eaze, one of the better experiences of my life.

Were it not for the software sales veteran boom-mic trio of Nick Fasano, Austin DeAngelis and Owen Ruh…

I would have been left out on Venice Boardwalk.

But they took me in as one of their own and I am eternally grateful for that.

Especially when you have to pivot to make moves in c@annabis.


>> Why is This Important?

Sometimes you hear people leave the industry and hope they land feet first…

Then you check it…

One of the guys who pulled me along at Eaze

Drops a presser about a $10M seed round for his new AI start up deal furl.

With gold plated investors Ten Eleven Ventures, Rapid7 CEO Corey Thomas and Open Opportunity Fund, furl seems like a BANGER.


>> What Am I Watching?

What do I know about AI? Well frankly nothing…

But I do now how hard it is to pivot industries.

I also know how hard it is to RASIE CAPITAL.

SO when you pivot and knock the ball out of the park….

I can only admire the achievement and offer my most sincere congratulations.

Austin, I’m betting on you and furl thats for sure.

And thank you for all the help you have given me.

Where do hemp beverages belong?

Well, what do we know:

1. They sure found a way to enter traditional distribution channels

2. Alcohol use is declining

3. Consumers are driving demand

With the hemp ban looming I'm not sure which way is UP.

So you tell me?

Thank you to my friend Peter Su, PBC-CP, CTP, CCBP, CRS, GRCP, GRCA, IDPP, CBE for having me on...

‘Seth, how did you make it into Forbes AGAIN?’

Well dummy I worked my butt off and I picked the right partner. That’s how…

Last week, Forbes published a piece on cannabis M&A that I was quoted in — alongside Mitchell Osak, who is the most credible and consistently right analyst in Canadian cannabis consulting, full stop.

No hype. No BS. No capital-markets vocabulary tests. This article didn’t come out of thin air.

It was grounded in a long-form piece Mitchell and I debated, pressure-tested, and refined because the loudest narrative in cannabis right now (“M&A is dead”) is… well just lazy.


>> What’s Happening?

M&A narratives dominate headlines, but how?

Behind the curtain, consolidation IS happening.

Private deals, restructurings, recaps, and strategic repositioning is where the action is.


>> Why Does This Matter?

Public markets for the next big cannabis deal? Maybe…

The next wave of exits, value and consolidation will emerge through private channels.

M&A didn’t disappear. It just stopped showing up in places that make for easy screenshots.

Public markets are frozen and private markets are doing the real work.

And anyone still waiting for a headline-grabbing “tsunami” deal from a busted MSO balance sheet is watching the wrong screen.


>> What Am I Watching Next?

How private capital structures continue to adapt to cannabis realities?

Does MORE off-market consolidation accelerate?

Does federal clarity finally unlock the value trapped in state-legal operators?

If you care about where real deal flow lives, this Forbes piece will be a reference point for 2026.

If you’re an operator, investor, or board member still anchoring strategy to press releases instead of private deal flow… good luck.


Two final points:

The Forbes piece is worth your time

Mitchell’s perspective is worth following

And if you want the WHOLE 18 pages behind the article download it here:

https://lnkd.in/eBxsGE7H

Read it. Argue with it. But don’t ignore it.

It's not what they say when you are IN the room
It's ALL ABOUT what they say when you are NOT IN the room...

What happens when two rival founders stop competing and start collaborating? 

Ben Larson and AnnaRae Grabstein find out from Draper Bender, President of Grön, as he shares the unlikely beginning of his friendship with Aaron Morris, CEO of Wyld  the man he once viewed as a bold, untouchable industry persona. 

Remember this was a Founder-led deal, there were no bankers. It was a direct, operator-to-operator discussion and transaction. No financial engineering. Just aligned businesses with similar DNA: bootstrapped, profitable, and deeply operational to their cores...

I was not even close to this one. 
Love you Draper and Christine Apple
And Aaron Morris count on me sending more pictures of boxes....
XO

Props to AnnaRae Grabstein + Ben Larson for the LOVE
And get on High Spirits: The Cannabis Business Podcast
On Apple Podcast (apple.co/40e8I2T )
Spotify (spoti.fi/4iUKphY )
and YouTube (https://lnkd.in/g5CMxNAM)

Here's the latest speculation on Schedule 3…


A few weeks ago a Senator proposed a measure that would direct the AG of the USA to create a commission charged with making recommendations on a c@nnabis regulatory system….


That MODELS for what is currently in place for ALCOHOL….YUP.

>> What's Happening?

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) introduced the PREPARE Act.


This directs the U.S. Attorney General to establish a Federal Regulation of Cannabis Commission.

This will draft a regulatory framework for post-prohibition cannabis.


Safety standards, labeling, crop and trade practices, banking & revenue systems, and social equity impact.

The bill would effectively give the AG Trump's a formal job to coordinate federal cannabis policy and set rules before full legalization.

>> Why is this Important?

A commission BEFORE legalization is scary.

That's not helping us….that's pre-ordained federal architecture by committee, which seems to create MORE problems.

The industry deserves clarity on issues like taxation, banking, and ADA/FTC guidance.


Not MORE mechanisms based on bureaucracy.


>> What Am I Watching?

Does this commission actually draft binding regulatory standards or just recommendations that Congress can ignore?

Which stakeholders get a seat at the table?

Does this become the new pretext to delay real federal legalization until the next election cycle?

Commissions are easy press releases. Regulation is hard law.

Don't confuse politicking with legalization.

Contact your elected officials today…PLEASE.

Why was I so hyped on Beverage ???

I am a history major
I studied how Alcohol was rolled out over the last 80 years

Why ?

Normalized adoption and distribution...
And they MAKE MONEY
(and its the only thing that we have as an example)

and you know what...they make $$$$$

Thanks to Alex DeFazio and the The High Index for the spot

You want to get in the game ?

Get yourself to a meeting with my folks from IgniteIt Cannabis
thats right...

GARDEN STATE COMING IN HOT...
February 10th, 2026
Westin Jersey City

and make sure you bring me a Hoagie....

Register HERE: https://bit.ly/49pHgUF

and use my CODE: SETH20

Patrick Lane Elliot Lane Javier Hasse

Everything early stage is HARD...
Next to impossible actually

I don't have a solution for early..

C@nnabis
Biotech
SaSS
AI
Retail
CPG/Beverage

All hard...

We just have 2 arms tied behind our backs on top of it all...

Grateful for the spot on From the Weeds to the Clouds
Michael Krefman + Michael Peterson

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